Weekly Review of Transit, Place and Culture in Anime 62

Welcome to this week’s review of notable instances of transit, place and culture as rendered in anime currently broadcast in Japan and simulcast internationally via the web. For a detailed outline of the approach, please refer to the explanation in the inaugural issue. Links to streaming sources are included when available, though not all may have current episode available at the time this column is published.

SPECIAL NOTE: The weekly review will be on break for the next two weeks. I will post a catch-up edition that covers the missed weeks on November 2 (November 9 latest). I will be in Japan doing more ethnographic research on transit-oriented development and public space. Some of the places I’m traveling to have been used as settings for several recent anime, so I may slip in a bit of seichijunrei while I’m at it.

@ts_kobaya made a video pilgrimage to Nara, Kashihara and Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward:

In his post, @lidges notes that a representative of the residents’ association asked that the name of the combined residential and shopping complex not be shared openly, as it is a private location. He asks other pilgrims to be mindful of their behavior when visiting and to strive for good relationships with local communities during visits. All of the posts above refer to the area either using its fictional name Hananodera (花野寺) from the story, a general description such as “Mirai’s apartment” or simply “a certain place” (某所). While I did eventually find it, I’ll adopt a similar convention here and not reveal the precise location.

Episode 2

This week picks up again with Mirai battling the youmu at her apartment complex.

The complex is a good example of mixed use development, with a shōtengai nestled in between apartment buildings.

Similar to the above, Akihito’s apartment building is based on a real private residence in the area and its location has been intentionally left vague.

This narrow street that abuts the railroad tracks, as well as the grade level crossing (踏切 fumikiri) at one end, are between Kashiharajingū-mae Station (橿原神宮前駅) and the school. The coffee/photography shop that is a front for the youmu appraiser is the only piece you won’t find here. The exterior and interior of the Setagaya Ward, Tokyo branch of the cafe Jashumon (邪宗門) was used as the visual model. The cafe is to the south of Shimokitazawa, close to Sangen-jaya Station and Setagayadaita Station.

Fan Pilgrimage Update

Opening Credits

Meganebu! is upfront about its use of Sabae (鯖江), Fukui Prefecture as its setting. The theme of the show (guys who love their glasses) isn’t coincidental. Sabae is one of Japan’s largest eyeglass frame manufacturers.

The opening credits features both Fukutetsu Series 200 (left) and Series 770 trains, the two light rail models used on the Fukui Railway Fukubu Line (福井鉄道福武線). Here the Series 200 stops at Nishi-Sabae Station (西鯖江駅).

Ending Credits

The ending credits consist almost entirely of photographs from around the city, with a few animated elements painted on.

Episode 1

According to the transcript of the visual novel, this shōtengai is near the train station that appears in the following scene.

In the visual novel and anime, the station is named Minamisuetsugu (みなみすえつぐ), which doesn’t exist in real life. The E231-900 series train with yellow stripes suggests this is based on the Chūō-Sōbu Line (中央・総武緩行線). There are many shōtengai adjacent to nearby stations on this line, so perhaps one out of Ichikawa Station, Koiwa Station or Motoyawata Station was used as the model.

At the time of the White Album 2 visual novel releases in 2010 and 2011, Tokyo Skytree (東京スカイツリー) was still under construction, as depicted here.

Fan Pilgrimage Update

@sky_dj_ (post) and @gonta0822 (post) both made pilgrimages to Hōrai Bridge (蓬莱橋), Guinness world record holder for longest wooden walking bridge, in Shimada, Shizuoka Prefecture for Episode 1.

@ssslocation made a pilgrimage to Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo for Episode 1. He also shared several videos related to the setting that he found on YouTube. The first two are pilgrimages to the Hōrai Bridge, the third is a promotional video made by the university.

Fan Pilgrimage Update

There has been much discussion about the possibilities for Non Non Biyori pilgrimage destinations, but the picture is not yet clear. One location that has been definitively confirmed by @hauyashi (post) and previously (here and here) is Ogawa, Saitama Prefecture, the location of the school house that served as the model for the show. The surrounding area, however, is not consistent with the show background art.

There was an early theory, though now mostly abandoned, that the overall setting was Tsuyama, Okayama Prefecture. This was based on an image of Chiwa Station used in the cover for volume 2 of the manga, which @aqcuaria went to investigate last summer. As of Episode 1, there is not enough information to conclusively establish location.

Opening Credits

Clues in the opening include a bridge span over a creek bed—

—and glimpse of a train in the distance.

Episode 1

The first episode establishes the premise of the Tokyo transfer student adjusting to rural life, leading to her classmates’ reflection on their own sense of place (and whether they even acknowledge the reality that their farming village is very much in the “country”).

The village is not entirely bereft of signs of modern civilization. There are buses, which the students use in their commutes to and from school.

The local students struggle with how to describe the state of urbanization (or lack thereof), but when they miss their planned bus home and have to wait two hours for the next, the inconvenience that they associate with being truly “in the country” is hard to dismiss.

Fan Pilgrimage Update

@sky_dj_ made a pilgrimage to the Sugaharashirokita Bridge in Higashiyodogawa Ward, Osaka for Episode 14.

@paffue made a pilgrimage to Kushiro, Hokkaido Prefecture for Nisemonogatari Episode 1.

Episode 14

This week, more of the stylized renderings of urban textures that are characteristic of Monogatari. Often easy to miss as the fly past in rapid succession, there are often entire neighborhoods available for exploration to anyone with a DVR and the patience to step through scenes frame-by-frame.

Episode 2

Episode 1

From time to time, and certainly more often than in American popular culture, manga and anime touch on scenarios where cities and countries suffer the consequences of climate change and sea level rise, requiring adaptation or abandonment during future generations. PSYCHO-PASS was the most recent show to include some elements of this, though it was not too severe and resided squarely in the background. In Arpeggio of Blue Steel climate issues, including conflicts they induce, take center stage. (Above: Tokyo’s Sumida and Arakawa wards are completely submerged.)

Special Items

A blogger has compiled a selection of this season’s anime and described, when available, the pilgrimage locations available for each.

@ye_bi_su (post), @sky_dj_ (post) and @etesuke (post) made pilgrimages to the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, which appears in promotional material for the January 2014 premiere of Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha.

@paffue made a pilgrimage to Tokyo Station and Ueda, Nagano Prefecture, including a Shinkansen trip, for Mamoru Hosada’s film Summer Wars.